


Soft Sides

by Superfluous_Slytherin



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Needs a Hug, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Logic | Logan Sanders Is A Good Friend, Protective Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24009265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superfluous_Slytherin/pseuds/Superfluous_Slytherin
Summary: Putting Others First SPOILERS!The newest episode gave us a lot of angst and questions so I wanted to write something sweet and fluffy with the boys. This is my explanation of where Remus and Virgil were, as well as why Logan appeared as a popup. I was watching Tiktoks and laughing when people said they were just vibing in the mind palace and my friend Cait said, "Honestly that sounds like a wholesome fic." So here we are.The boys are probably a little OOC, especially Remus because I wanted to write them actually getting along.Language warning because of Remus but nothing too big.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Comments: 3
Kudos: 127





	Soft Sides

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for Remus' language!

“Because I was one of them.”  
He had said it. He couldn’t believe he did it. He had wanted to tell Thomas for so long but every time he tried, he had started overthinking it and backed out. As he sunk out, Thomas staring at him in shock, he started hating himself. He was running away again, but that was his way, wasn't it? He had run away from Thomas before, ducking out as completely as he could because he was so afraid of what he was seeing happening. And he had run away from Deceit, hadn’t he? Well, not necessarily just him.  
He couldn’t blame him as much as he sometimes wished he could. Deceit hadn’t truly done anything all that wrong, in fact, he knew he was trying to protect him in his own way. When Virgil had first formed, he had landed in what would later be called the “Dark Sides” part of the mind palace. Deceit had been the one who had found him, still somewhat newly formed himself. After all, children can learn to lie very quickly, before they have enough Anxiety to form a side.  
“Who are you?” Deceit had asked softly. He had forgotten when Deceit spoke so kindly. This was before he had grown hard and angry.  
“Anxiety.” Virgil had responded. No one had given him a name yet, so he only knew what he was.  
“I’m Deceit.” Anxiety had finally looked up and seen the snake scales on his face and he flinched. “It’s okay!” The other side promised. “I’m new here too, I’ll help you.”  
And Virgil had believed him. He let Deceit lead him further into the mind palace, give him a room all his own, and then take him before the King.  
If he was being honest, he couldn’t remember what the King had looked like, it was so long ago. It was the King who had named them all, being Creativity and all, though he sometimes wondered what would have changed had they let Patton decide their names as the oldest. They all went in alone since the King had declared that their names be something special to them. When he had returned to the dark sides, he hadn’t told Deceit his name and he hadn’t asked. He had asked Deceit once about his name, only to be snapped at for invading his privacy so he didn’t feel all that obligated to share his.  
It wasn’t long after then that the mind palace shook like an earthquake was right underneath them and another side had formed. Remus, his clothes already torn and stained, lay in on the floor outside Deceit’s room. Virgil remembered how afraid he’d been of his friend when he stormed into the light side's place, something he had been told never to do, demanding to know why Patton dared split the King into two. Virgil had eased himself down onto the floor, staring at Remus curiously.  
“So, you were the King?” He asked softly.  
“Half of him.” He replied, rubbing his eyes as they tried to adjust to the lights. “The half with a fat ass.”  
Virgil snorted despite himself, which caused the dirty boy to smile. “Do you-” Virgil cut himself off, pulling his jacket sleeves over his hands nervously. “Do you remember anything about being the King? Like, giving names?”  
“Nah. I just know that I’m a Duke now, which is a downgrade, and my bitch ass twin is apparently a Prince which is so not fair, and that my name is Remus.”  
Virgil couldn’t deny that he was happy Remus didn’t remember him. Even if the Duke’s new room still connected to Roman’s through a back door, he wasn’t the King. When Deceit had swept back into their side of the mind palace, he was calmer, but Virgil could see the hidden anger there. He was kind to Remus, just the way he had been kind to Virgil, but he never let that anger at Patton go. He was angry and Remus was happy to match that anger with violence, his terrifying ideas distracting Dee when they didn’t annoy him.  
And Virgil couldn’t take it. He couldn’t take the fact that Patton repressed them all, whether he meant to or not. He couldn’t take the angry words Deceit said when he couldn’t get through to Thomas, or the dead rats Remus would leave just to hear him scream. The fact that he had to walk on eggshells and be afraid of incurring someone’s wrath.  
So he ran. Slowly at first, ducking out and joining the first video or two and coming back to see Deceit hadn’t even noticed. And when he did start noticing, he tried to get Virgil to lead Thomas the way he wanted, which scared him. He had spent so long with the sides who spoke their plans out loud, with no hidden motives, that the snake-like sides reluctance to explain his plan was worrisome. So, he’d started avoiding those who used to be his friends. His door had changed, now leading to the light sides half of the palace without him even trying to. He thought he finally had a place with them, a place where he didn’t have to be afraid, where he could be himself.  
And look where that had gotten him, just another mistake and another time Virgil was running away. Well, trying to anyway, it didn’t really work out in his favor.  
He wasn’t focused on his room like he normally was or should be. And so, instead of flopping back onto his bed like he had planned, his feet hit hard ground and he stumbled, falling over himself into a heap on the floor. He groaned, rubbing his forehead and wondering when the lights in his room became so bright.  
“Well well well, if it isn’t Virgil!” A loud voice cried and he flinched violently at the sudden noise. “Didn’t think I’d be seeing your beautiful butt around here anytime soon!”  
Virgil curled into himself more, trying to bury his face into his jacket. Why had he let himself get into this? Why did he get distracted and not concentrate? All he wanted was his bed. His sweet soft bed with dull fairy lights and a weighted blanket.  
“Oh come on now Virge, don’t you care about your dear old Duke anymore?” Remus laughed, grabbing onto Virgil and pulling his face up so that he could meet his eyes.  
Virgil glared at the man before pulling his chin out of his grasp and ducking his head, trying to concentrate on his room. Instantly, the Duke’s smile fell and if he had looked back up, Virgil would have seen a strange look in his eyes, one he wouldn’t associate with Remus.  
“Virge?” he asked softly “Are you crying?”  
Virgil’s concentration snapped and he reached up to touch his face, realizing as he pulled back his hand that was now covered in black eyeshadow that he had actually been crying. When had that started?  
“I’m fine.” He mumbled, pushing himself up into a sitting position and pulled his hood down over his face.  
He expected Remus to keep harassing him but instead, he felt Remus sit down beside him, leaning his shoulder against his. Despite himself, he leaned into the warmth the Duke offered (He could almost be a furnace which Virgil wasn’t surprised by because he set himself on fire very frequently) willing the tears to stop. What even made him start crying? Was it the memories of before, or perhaps the fear in Thomas’ face. Either way, it needed to stop. He shouldn't be here, not now especially. But his head was pounding now and he couldn’t concentrate enough to go anywhere. So he just let the uncharacteristically quiet Remus sit with him. He hated to admit it but it was calming to have his presence, something he’d never thought about the Duke.  
Before he could stop himself, Virgil found his eyes sliding shut.

He was aware of Remus moving, scooping him up in a princess style and setting him down on some soft surface that was infinitely more comfortable than the floor. Surprisingly, he was too tired to be anxious about where he was and who was currently settling him down onto a couch. He wasn’t sure why telling Thomas had taken so much out of him but he couldn’t even keep his eyes open long enough to care.  
He knew time passed, he just couldn’t say how much. No one disturbed him, though he heard Remus walk through the area a few times, and Thomas didn’t try to call him out of the mind palace again. He floated in and out of dreams, thankfully without nightmares, until he felt a nudge on his shoulder.  
“Wake up ‘Coon eyes.” Remus chuckled, plopping down onto the floor so that he was eye level with Virgil. “You sleep too much.”  
Virgil scrambled up into a sitting position, pulling his knees up to his chest. “How long was I asleep?” He asked softly.  
“A couple days.” Remus shrugged, fiddling with his morningstar. “Thomas just got back from the wedding, most of the others are out there right now.”  
“The wedding?” Virgil’s stomach dropped. “Did he enjoy it? What happened? Why didn’t you wake me, I should be there!”  
“Actually, it would be rather counterproductive for your own health to talk to Thomas now.” Virgil flinched as Logan appeared on the edge of the couch. “Regardless of what Remus thinks, you actually did not sleep too much. In Fact, I believe you should be sleeping more often.”  
“What-What are you doing here? What happened?”  
“Remus stabbed me with a katana and wasn’t upset when I was fine so I assumed something was wrong. You exhausted yourself worrying over the effects the others were having on Thomas and then when you managed to find yourself here, you were beyond drained and needing sleep. Coupled with the fear you felt simply being in an unfamiliar face exhausted what little strength you had left to stay awake.”  
“But Thomas is okay, right? I’m not-”  
“No,” Logan reassured him. “You are not affecting Thomas at the moment, not more than usual anyway. The others are handling the situations well enough on their own, it is you that needs attention at the moment.”  
“You heard what I said, didn’t you? I told Thomas, he knows, and he hates me now!”  
“Welcome back to the club!” Remus burst out, having stayed quiet for a rather long time in his standards. “No one ever likes us. I blame Roman, he called us Dark Sides after all. The absolute butt hole.”  
“Thomas doesn’t hate either of you.” Logan corrected. “Virgil, he has already learned how necessary you are, he is just stressed and confused. And Remus, you are important as well, no matter how abrasive your methods may be.”  
“You make it sound so simple.” Virgil sighed, pulling his hood up and moving closer to Logan, still cold. Has the Dark Side always been this cold?  
“Perhaps it only seems that way to be because I do not deal with trivial, emotional matters as much.”  
“In other words, he’s got a stick up his ass.” Remus laughed and Logan only gave him a slight eye roll.  
“And you’ve got a snake up yours,” Virgil responded instantly, without thinking.  
“And it’s wonderful.” He smirked. Logan eyed them curiously.  
“You two are certainly interesting.”  
Remus shrugged, but before Logan could continue, they all heard the mind palace buzz quietly, the sound that filled the air whenever Thomas was subconsciously searching for one of them. Logan sighed but before he could duck out, Virgil grabbed his arm, pleadingly. He wasn’t afraid of Remus or the dark side but the Logical side helped keep any stray thoughts of extreme anxiety away. Logan might not be that good at emotions, but he understood Virgil's worries and nodded slightly.  
He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch, though Virgil couldn’t tell how he was showing up to Thomas.  
“Let’s draw a penis on his face,” Remus said instantly, jumping to his feet before Logan's eyes opened, glaring at the excitable side.  
“I am still here, partially. I would ask you not to do that, especially when you know it will not stay for more than a few seconds.” Remus pouted as Logan closed his eyes again, focusing on whatever he was saying to Thomas.  
“You can always draw one on him later.” Virgil comforted him, which caused Remus’ smile to return. Strangely, Virgil wasn’t disgusted by it as he normally would say he was.  
They just sat there in a strangely comfortable silence, Virgil curling up closer to Logan and Remus just unloading more weapons than physically possible from his sleeves and piling them on the floor next to him. Suddenly, Logan's body jerked and his eyes shot open, an annoyed look on his face.  
“What's wrong?” Virgil asked worriedly and Logan shook his head, glancing at Remus, which was strange.  
“Nothing, they just didn’t want to listen to me anymore.” Virgil could tell he was hiding something, but he wasn’t about to press him, not when he was being so nice and staying with Virgil when he knew he probably didn’t want to.  
“What are they talking about?”  
“Unimportant.” Logan insisted, straightening his tie and sitting up. “It would be counterproductive for you to begin worrying about a conversation you are not involved in and that Thomas is handling with the others.”  
“You do know who you’re talking to, right Lo?”  
“I bet Dee’s out there,” Remus said casually. “Haven’t seen him in a while.”  
Virgil’s eyes widened and Logan placed a calming hand on his arm. “Patton and Roman can more than handle Deceit, Virgil. They’ve shown us that before. I believe that your presence, whether you mean it to or not, will only antagonize the situation more.”  
Virgil was already gripping his jacket sleeves with white knuckles and Logan sighed.  
“Come on Emo.” Remus laughed slightly maniacally. “Not like I’m out there. Though I think Roman could probably take another hit or two. Might take his ego down a notch.”  
Virgil glared at the mustached side before Logan handed him something and quickly handed Remus a duplicate.  
“A Switch?” Virgil asked curiously.  
“Yes, Thomas got one just after the video to play during the wedding, though he chose not to. I figured that while it is not healthy for Thomas to distract himself from either of you most of the time, you can distract yourselves from each other.”  
Virgil begrudgingly opened animal crossing, only to find himself fully engrossed in it after a few minutes. Logan had just opened a book to keep himself entertained when Thomas reached for him again and he sighed, promising to be as quick as possible. When his mind recentered, Virgil was glaring at Remus again, though he noted that it was hardly as passionate as it normally was.  
“No, I am not letting you back on my island! I just got all my trees back and you’ll cut them down again!”  
“I won’t! You got Fang and I wanna steal him so I can take him back to my orgy island!” Remus shot back.  
Logan couldn’t help but tilt his head as he watched them, neither seeming to have noticed his return quite yet. He had his suspicions on Virgil before he had joined them in their half of the mind palace but he sometimes wondered about the relationships he had before he knew them. After all, whether he understood it or not, the self-proclaimed light sides had the dynamic of a strange family. Obviously Patton was the Dad of the group but Roman had taken to sarcastically calling Logan mom when he chided him, though Logan wasn’t so sure he fit that dynamic as well. In fact, if anyone fits it, it would strangely be Deceit. He and Patton hadn’t always seen eye to eye but they had certainly been at the helm when steering Thomas towards a good portion of decisions until the King had split.  
Deceit had stopped coming towards the front of Thomas’ mind, and had hidden away with Virgil and the newly formed Remus and worked behind the scenes. Logan had noticed the few times he saw the two technically youngest “dark” sides that despite how Remus could upset Virgil so easily, they actually ended up working together quite often. Remus would suggest something that would get Virgil riled up and they would steer Thomas away from whatever action he had been considering.  
And it seemed that even with everything they had been through, they still held onto some of that dynamic.  
Logan returned to his book, content with letting Roman and Patton handle Thomas’ emotional problems until he heard Virgil yelp and Remus jump to his feet. Roman had appeared in the living room, looking both incredibly dejected and confused.  
“Roman?” Virgil asked in confusion, already climbing off the couch. “What-”  
“Sorry, ducked out too fast.” The princely side apologized, already turning tail and disappearing down the hallway. Virgil hesitated before following, grabbing onto Remus’ morningstar and dragging the other side along with him.  
“Let’s go deal with your brother.” He said, and Logan sighed, shaking his head. He didn’t think Virgil would actually let Remus hit his brother again so he wasn’t too worried and instead closed his book and turned towards the kitchen, leaving them to their own devices.  
Virgil, on the other hand, wasn’t quite sure of what the plan was. He wasn’t exactly the one to comfort other people, much less Roman. And why had he grabbed Remus and pulled him along too? Sure, they were twins and all but they weren’t exactly close anymore. Before he could even begin to dissect all of that, they had reached Romans already closed door.  
“Good thing you brought me!” Remus chuckled, already hoisting his morningstar up to smash the door when Virgil gasped.  
“No, Remus! You can’t just break down his door!”  
“You’re no fun Emo.” Remus pouted and the other side simply rolled his eyes.  
“Roman?” He asked, knocking on the door. “Can I- can we talk to you?” There was no reply but when Virgil’s hand brushed the doorknob, the door swung open wide for them. Remus strolled in confidently but Virgil hesitated for a second. He hadn’t been in Roman’s room before, not since before he was Roman. Back then, the room had been a castle, a long hallway that led to a throne room and hallways that led off into other rooms he hadn’t been allowed to see. Now though, it was just like the others rooms, mimicking Thomas’ apartment. It was brighter than the hallway, but without the strange sparkle that Patton’s room held.  
Remus was already marching up the stairs and Virgil scrambled to catch up with him. Roman was sitting on his bed, already having pulled his sash off and he flinched when the two sides entered, trying to hide his face away.  
“I didn’t say you could come in.” He said, without any anger in his voice.  
“The door opened,” Virgil explained lamely. “Are you alright? What happened?”  
“Janus happened. Thomas is making a mistake trusting him.”  
“Oh, so he told you?” Remus asked, plopping down on Roman’s bed, making his twin scrunch his nose. “I thought he’d NEVER tell you.”  
“Janus?” Virgil asked in confusion before his eyes widened in shock. “Deceit? He told you guys his name? And Thomas is TRUSTING him?”  
“He’s not all that bad.” Remus snapped, tightening his grip on his weapon. “If anything, you two are being the assholes!”  
“I know. Thomas hates me now too, he doesn’t think I’m his hero anymore.” Roman said dejectedly and Virgil stared at him in shock. He knew Roman had sometimes acted strange but this was the most unhappy that he had ever heard the royal side. He wasn’t good with words, so he just sat down on the bed next to him, ignoring Remus trading his morningstar for a knife and twirling it haphazardly.  
“Thomas is just upset. That's mostly my fault, I freaked him out, so I’m sorry Roman.”  
“Not your fault Mayday Parade.” Virgil wasn’t about to comment on how lazy that nickname was. “It’s mine. I’m not doing my job, I’m just hurting Thomas at this point.”  
“Maybe.” Remus shrugged. Ignoring Virgil’s glare. “Not like they can split you again though so there’s not much to worry about.”  
Roman’s head jerked up, staring at his brother. “What?”  
“That’s why dear old daddy split us, isn’t it? He was scared we were hurting Thomas.”  
“You weren’t though!” Virgil insisted before Roman could even respond. “Patton was just….. scared. People do stupid things when they’re scared. You’re not hurting Thomas, Roman.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he fell silent and let the princely side think. Of course, the silence only lasted a few seconds because Remus failed twirling the knife and stabbed himself. Roman sighed, conjuring a towel out of nowhere.  
“Don’t get blood on my bed please.”  
“You act like you couldn’t clean it!” Remus huffed, throwing the towel on top of his hand anyway. “Maybe I’ll just rip the whole thing off. This one’s defective.”  
“Please don’t!” Virgil pleaded, shooting a glance at Roman. “I’ve been stuck with that. He cut down all of my animal crossing trees!”  
“You two played animal crossing without me?” Roman asked in an offended tone. Virgil could tell he was trying to change the subject away from his problems but he didn’t press him. Sometime’s, you need to run away a little bit.  
Instead, he pulled three switches out of the air (easier to do now that he was in literal creativities room.) and handed one to Roman. The royal side grinned widely, taking it eagerly as Remus sighed and reattached his hand, taking the switch happily as well. The three settled down, only occasionally yelling at Remus for coming to their islands and stomping their flowers. Virgil couldn’t help but notice that he was warmer now.  
He also noticed that occasionally, when he would glance at the twins out of the corner of his eye, they would seem to blend into one person again. Perhaps running away was just something that they tended to do, no matter what side of Thomas they represented, just because it was easier. The thing was, they always had someone to bring them back, keep them from going too far. Maybe the literal embodiment of Anxiety was all it took to get someone to stop doing something stupid. Or maybe it was the power of Animal crossing. He was willing to bet that had more to do with it than anything. No matter the reason, for right now, they were finding healthy distractions and were at least…. okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I am not really sure how this reached this ending or what it means but it's where I felt like it needed to. I hope you enjoyed, feel free to roast me on any mistakes so I can fix them!


End file.
